Soldier On calls for national collaboration so no veteran goes unsupported

Soldier On calls for national collaboration so no veteran goes unsupported

Immediate Release, 16 August 2016

Today Soldier On invited RSL, Legacy, Mates4Mates and Defence Care to attend an urgent meeting in Canberra to create a roadmap for improved coordination of services for veterans and their families across the country. The Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson has kindly offered to host the meeting at the memorial on Friday, 2 September.

On Sunday RSL National President, Rod White said it’s time the government coordinated a united approach to give veterans and their families the best support available.

Soldier On agrees that formalised coordination is important. We have heard overwhelmingly from our community that veterans and their families expect veteran support organisations to work together to deliver critical services. It is our collective responsibility to make this happen now.

“Soldier On is only four years old and in that time we’ve worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the issues impacting contemporary veterans. With community and corporate funding, we have developed a range of ongoing and socially connected programs and services to help veterans build more successful futures,” says John Bale, Co-Founder and CEO of Soldier On. “However we acknowledge that RSL and Legacy both have close to 100 years of history and have developed extensive infrastructure around the country.”

“As veterans discharge from the defence force and relocate to every corner of Australia, it is critical that all organisations providing services to veterans and their families collaborate to coordinate services and leverage infrastructure to ensure no veteran and their family goes unsupported.”

“What needs to happen now is for Soldier On, RSL, Legacy, Mates 4 Mates and Defence Care to come together and collaborate to ensure every veteran and their family is supported.”

John Bale says there is already collaboration happening between these organisations. Soldier On receives donations from RSL sub branches and has a formal partnership with Mates4Mates. But in light of Sunday’s article and the increasing issue of veteran wellbeing, now is the time to work more closely together.

“We all want to achieve the same thing – better outcomes and brighter futures for our veterans. So let’s sit down together and create a roadmap to provide veterans and their families with better services across the country. This is the least we could do for them.”

With almost 3,500 organisations listing veterans as a beneficiary, it is anticipated this meeting will create a framework to help these organisations deliver more coordinated and focused services for veterans across the country.